Letter: SHU fitness center ousts community members

Published
9:40 am EDT, Friday, April 11, 2014

Sacred Heart University has given notice to the community members who exercise at the William H. Pitt Center that their memberships will expire on July 1, 2014 due to "overcrowding." Considering that there are only 41 community members and less than half exercise at the facility on a regular basis, SHU's reasoning of SHU doesn't make sense.

Many of the community members are active older adults like me who have used the facility to exercise and better our lives. Many of the members work in local companies and for national corporations, and at least one member is a Connecticut Superior Court judge. Many of us have supported the fundraising efforts of SHU's football and baseball teams and scholarship funds for many years.

In speaking with my peers, the overall feeling is that the Pitt Center provides a comfortable and safe environment for the members to exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I question why SHU would take such a drastic measure. If in fact overcrowding was really the issue, SHU could cap the community membership at 41, require community members to park in the larger lot adjacent to the field house, and limit the hours that community members can use the facility. You would think that in this instance SHU would follow the tenets of its mission statement, in part which reads: "We are Pioneers for the common good. We are committed to creating a better future for others, our community and our world."